Illuminated sign.



` PATBNIED AUG. v, 1900. R. mWILEI. ILLUMINATED SIGN. PPLIUATIQN FILED 00T.29, 1904.

ser sonner Winer, or sr. earnestness, canina.

retratar ersten ne. cascos.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, ROY RODNEY W'ILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Catharines, in the Province of ntario and Dominion of Canada, have invented a certain new and useful lm rovenent in illuminated Signs, (Case 42,) o'l which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specificatiOIi.'

My invention relates to illuminated signs,

andA particularly to electrically-illuminated signs. V ,Ehe object of my invention is to provide in one design a sign which combines the features of iiexibility, moderate cost, legibility, and durability, togetherwith' great si1nplicity of construction and operation.

The sign inthe simplest forni consists of a body containing the lamps and having the front open, before which. opening interchangeable letter-plates may he inserted, the body of the letter lates being comparatively opaque, While t e letters are transparent and are raised or pressed from the letter-plates, which are preferably of glass. TWith this conu struction a sign of an' can be quickly vand cheaply assembled? ln assembling the sign the only operations necessary would be the insertion or extraction of flat plates with raised glass characters, and to allow any one character to be put in place or removed Without disturbing the others l adapt these plates to ce inserted in the sign from the iront.

As a sign of this construction need not ac commodate itself to the size of standard lamps7 these signs may be readily construct# ed on a reduced scale and adaptable for such places as show-Windows or other limited areas. Also by employing the raised glass characters the sign will be extremely legible by day or night. ln the day-time the raised glass letters will stand out with great clean ness and contrast from their darker-colored background, and at night the transparent characters appear to' consist of solid 'masses of light, allot the light being utilized in il lumi- The raised characters l n angle-iron 9 extends between they endV nating the letters.

also render the sign equally legible from the 'frontend the sides.

instead of employing an abundance of con- '.rductors l need but two conductors or bus bars, which pass through the interior of the sign and which maybe completely insulated, i

Specification of Letters Patent. application mea 00am 29, 190i. sean no. 230,464.

Patented aug. 7, ieee.

and thus render the sign absolutely fireproof. Un `account of the lamps being entirely inclosed Within the body the sign may also be rendered absolutely waterproof. Only one illuminant, such as a Cooper-Hewitt tube, may serve for the entire sign, or one or 'more incandescent lamps may serve as illumination for the letters. hach character also may be provided with one or more lamps, the incandescent lamps being preferably attached directly to the bus-bars to eliminate the ne cessity of additional Wiring. Deilectors may also be employed at the int-erior'of the sign to direct the light to the letters and' to intensify the illumination thereof.

in signs of very large construction l preferably provide a separate lamp and reflector for each character, while in smaller signs, as

before stated, several characters may be illuminated from one source, and the characters maybe subdivided into smaller sizes, and thus any size or length of legend produced.

Other novel features of construction and arrangement are also incorporated in my invention, which will be better understood by referringy to vthe' accompanying drawings,v which illustrate one form of sign of my improved construction.

Figure i is a front view of a sign, showing, the letters assembled therein to forni legends. Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of a sign, part of the front thereof being removed to more clearly show the interior arrangement of parts. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows the front view of a character-plate with a raised letter thereon. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a top view showing a `Vlight-tight connection betweenY characterplates.` Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the letter-frarne with a letter inserted therein, and, Fig. S is a sectional view taken on line 8 8 of Fig. 2'`

Lilie reference Acharacters refer to like parts throughout the various figures.

The bod; of the frame has a rear Wall 1 and base-wall f2, the xop 3 of the frame being hinged at 4, as shown. The front of the box is cut away to leave an opening 5 in iich are inserted the letter-frames 7 and 8. 1

walls l() and l1 of the frame, and a shallow trough l2 is secured at the lower edge 13 of th epcning 5, the letter-frame being adaptfor insertion between the angle-iron and said trough. At the ends of 'the topof the letter-frames pins 14 extend upwardly for enaging retaining spring-clasps 15 and for ally entering opening 16 in the springclasps. The rear end of the spring-clasp is secured to the top of the angle-iron Q while the ree end thereof is bent upwardly more readily to receive the pins on the letterframes, and the angle-iron 9 has slots 17, through which the pins may pass. The lower part of the letter-frame is disposed in the trough 12, and to insert a frame within the o ening 5 the lower edge thereof is placed in t e trough 12 and the `upper part'thereof swung into the angle-iron 9, whereupon the spring-clasps engage the pins 14 and securely hold the letter-frames in position. The upper and lowerprarts of the letter-frames are provided with ont walls 18, provided with friction-hinges 19, which hinged walls readily allow insertion of the letter-plates' 2O 20 from' the'lront of the frame.

The letter-frame may 'extend entirely across the opening 5, or it may be subdivided into smaller letter-frames 8 8', as shown at the left of Figs. 1 and 2 'and in section in Fig. 3. These smaller letter-trames are also provided with hinged front walls and may be readily secured together by means of pins and adapted 'for insertion within 4the angleiron and trough in the saine manner as the larger frame 8. The letter-plates are interchangeable and each readily inserted from thelront of the sign-frame without disturbing other letter-plates. In arrranging the legends of the sign the various letter-tramesI are removed therefrom, and upon opening the hinged l'ront walls thereof the letters mayv be very readily placed therein and arranged to form suitable legends. The hinged walls being now closed to' hold the letter-plates in position, the 'letter-frames may be bodily placed in the trough. 12 and within the angleiron 9 and will be held therein by the springclasps 15. The letter-plates themselves may be directly inserted between the angle-iron and trough without the use of letter-frames.

l preferably form the letter-plates of glass and press therefrom the letters, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The letters are preferably pressed to form sharp corners, whereby a prismatic effect is lobtained and the letters themselves are transparent, while the body of the plate is rendered opaque. The plate may also be oi' one color and the letter of a dierent color.

V\7hen the glass plates are thin, they may be strengthened and protected by surrounding them with a tin reinforcing-rim 21, but when made of thick glass this is unnecessary, the plates being then of sufficient strength. To prevent escape of light between adjacent letter-plates, a rib is provided for each letterplate, which may be secured tothe rim, as

shown, the rib being placed to overlap the edge of the adjacent letter-plate, and these from each other.

ribs also serve to more securely hold the letter-plates together and in place within the letter-frame.

Any illuminant may be placed within the sign-frame behind the letter-plates and the entire light will be utilized, as the rays thereof can pass only through the ltransparent letters, which will stand out boldly and appear as blocks of light. Cooper-Hewitt lamp, may extend throughout the entire length of the sign, or a plurality of incandescent lamps may be used, as shown.

To feed the lamps and also to support them, l provide bus-bars 23 and 24, which are sevcured to the base 2 of the frame by means or bolts 25. `These bolts pass through openings 26 of porcelain washers 27, disposed between the bus-bars, as shown, and thus the bus-bars are thoroughly insulated from the bolts and Contact-screws 28 are secured to the lower bus-bar 24 and ext-end upwardly through enlarged openings 29 and beyond the upper bus-bar 23, being adapted for engagement with one terminal of incandescent lamps 30 30, and the other terminal of the lamps is connected with the upper bus-bar 23 upon screwing the lamp down. A source of current 31 isconnected with the bus-bars by means of terminal conductors 32 32, which may pass through insulating-bushings 33 in the wall of the sign-frame. y"instead o'f using bus-b ars, as shown, lamp-sockets might be used and suitably connected together by conductors. l

To intensify the light and to direct the rays thereof Ithrough the transparent raised let-ters, I provide reflector means, which may be in the shape of a continuous rellector- 34, eX- tending throughout the sign-trame, or a plurality of reflectors may be used-oneor each lamp, for instance. The reflector vpractically incloses the opening 5, and the lamps 'extend through openings 35 inthe base of the reflector upwardly, so that the light centers of the lamps `are disposed in the focus of the reflectors, and thus all the rays of the light are confined and deflected outwardly through the transparent letters.

To allow ready insertion oi' the lamps and to render them more accessible to repairs, l provide a removable top 36 for the reilec'tor, the rear edge 37 thereof being enga-ged by the upper edge 38 of the lower part of the relleetor, as shown, and upon the opening of e A swinging cover of' the sign-haine the rellectortop may be readily removed and the interior of the sign-frame opened 'for inspection 'or repairs.V

To prevent undue heating of the si n, ventilating-openings 38.38 are provid in the base of the frame and openings 39 laire pro-4 vided in the reflector, and to prevent entrance of insects I dispose screens e0 over the openin s. v y

,gl thus provide an ex'trerhely ilegible illumi- A single lamp, suc i as a IOO IOS

I and inserted from the front, a si nated sign of' a very simple and durable construction in which a maximum efficiency or legibility is obtained with minimum current consumption.

Owin to the easy manner in which the individualg letter-plates may be interchanged with any legend may be quickly assemble and as the letters may be made of any size the sign may be very small and adaptable for limited spaces, A

such as show-windows, show-cases, or the like. The letters also being ressed from glass and prismatic. are extremely legible both by day and night and rom all directions. The arrangement of the lam s and reflectors also insures all of the light Itieing thrown through the raised glass characters, and thus there is absulutely no waste.

The sign, owing to the construction described, is entirely waterproof, and as the construction material used may all be ireproof the sign is protected against lire injury from both within and without.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. In an illuminated sign, the combination with a box-like supporting-frame having a front opening and parallel channels extending along the edges of the front opening, of lamps disposed within the frame to the rear of said opening, a letter-frame disposed between said channels, snring means for lookin said,` letter-frame wit 'n said channels, and interchangeable letter-plates held in said letter-frame, the edges on said plates having overlapping edges for preventing escape of light between adjacent plates.

2. In an illuminated sign, the combination with a box-'like supporting-frame having an o ening alon its'ront an channels forming t e horizonte wall of said opening, of a letterframe for en aging in said channels, glass letter-plates a apted for separable and interohan eable insertion within said letter-frame, said etter-rame having hinged front walls whereby said letters may be inserted from the front of the frame, said hinged walls serving also to secure said letter-plates in position in said frame, raised letters pressed from said letter- -lates, said letters bein transparent and t e body of the letter-p ates opaque, lamps disposed within said supporting-frame, and reflecting means for reflecting the lightrays from said lamps through said 4transparent letters.

In witness whereof l hereunto subscribe my name this 25th day of October, A. D. 1904.

ROY RODNEY WILEY.

Witnesses:

MAY Etrzann'rn GLUsEN, NE1L rioni-mr Meneer-leen. 

